Shirt-waist.



No. 669,770. Patented Mar. l2, l90l. L. STEPPACHE R G. E. STERN.

SHIRT WAIST.

(Application filed Dec. 18, 1900.)

(No new.)

llNiTED STATES PATENT @FFTCE.

LOUIS STEPPACHER AND EMANUEL STERN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SHIRT-WAIST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,770, dated March 12, 1901.

Application filed December 18,1900. Serial No.40,24=5. (No model.)

To otZZwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, LOUIS. STEPPACHER and EMANUEL STERN, citizens of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shirt-Waist-s, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention is an improvement in shirtwaists for mens and childrens wear; and one of its objects is to provide a construction of shirt waist underneath which the ordinary trousers-suspenders can be worn and not be seen and with which a waist-belt is permanently attached so as to give the appearance of an ordinary separate or independent belt without the necessity of binding it so tightly around the Wearers waist as to cause discomfort.

Another Object of the invention is to permanently attach the waist-belt to the back of the shirt-waist in such a manner as to form permanent plaits extending from said belt upwardly and with the ends of the belt free from the shirtwaist at the front and said ends adapted to be fastened together to draw the shirt-waist in around the wearers body, and thereby cause the surplus material to form front plaits corresponding to the plaits at the back, the said front plaits being arranged along the front of the waist according to the amount of surplus material and the taste of the wearer. When the ends of the said attached waistbelt are free, the material is no longer held thereby in front plaits, but is free to be smoothed flat out, thus enabling the shirt-waist to be easily ironed, which would not be the case if the plaits were stitched into permanent folds; and -a further object of the invention is to fasten together the free ends of the waist-belt with a detachable double buckle, so that the buckle may be correspondingly adjusted on both ends of the belt, and thereby maintain the proper central position at the buttoned edges of the shirt-Waist.

The invention consists in certain constructions and arrangement of the parts hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure l is a front view of our improved shirt-waist with the free ends of the waistbelt unfastened and the front smoothed out flat. Fig. 2 is a similar View thereof with the free ends of the permanently-attached waistbelt fastened together, illustrating the formation of front plaits held in place by the said waistbelt. Fig. 3 is a similar view of the back of the shirt-waist, illustrating the permanent back plait-s held in place by the waist-belt attached across the plaits. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the detachable twolooped or double buckle employed to fasten together the free ends of the waist-belt.

Referring to the drawings, the letter A designates our improved shirtwaist, which is without skirt, and the lower part ofits body terminates at about the waist-line in a lower hemmed edge a. Permanently attached partly arou nd the outside of said lower hemmed edge is a waist-belt b. The attaching means for said waist-belt are preferably two lines of stitching c, which extend entirely across the back of the shirt-waist and around the sides thereof, but terminate some distance away from the overlapped buttoned front edges of the shirt-waist, thereby permitting the ends (1 and d of the waist-belt b to remain disconnected or free from attachment to the shirtwaist, as shown particularly in Fig. l. The said waist-belt is preferably so attached to the shirt -'waist at the back that it permanently holds the material of the latter in two vertical plaits 2, thereby giving fullness and adding to the appearance of the shirt-waist at the back.

Loops f are attached to the lower hemmed edge a of the shirt-waist body, at each side of the overlapped buttoned front edges of the same, and the free ends d and d of the waistbelt are inserted through said loops and then fastened together by the detachable twolooped or double buckle g, hereinafter described, the waist belt being drawn as tight as desired. The loops f prevent the lower edge of the shirt-waist body from being pulled up above or sagging down below the fastenedtogether ends of the waist-belt, and the lines of stitching c prevent the shirt-waist from pulling up above the said belt at the back when the wearer stoops over.

The buckleg (shown in detail in Fig. 4:) is provided with two attaching-loops h, teetht' for each attaching-loop, and a central slot j. Each end of the waist belt 5 is inserted through one of the said attaching-loops h and is drawn therethrough and fastened by the teeth 1) independently of the other end,whereby to keep the buckle in the proper positionto wit, at the overlapped buttoned front edges of the shirt-waist. One or both of the ends are then finally passed through the central slot Now when the belt is thus drawn sufficiently tight around the wearers body the then surplus material at the lower part of the shirt-waist body is folded into a number of vertically-extending tapering plaits m, the number and size of which are determined by the taste of the wearer or the amount of surplus material, and said plaits are securely held in place by the waist-belt While the shirtwaist is on and give a fullness at the front and correspond to the permanent back plaits 6, thereby adding to the blouse effect and appearance of the shirt-waist.

When the ends of the waist-belt b are unfastened, the shirt-waist may be smoothed out fiat at the front, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby taking out the front plaits m and allcreases, so that the said front of the shirt-waist can be easily ironed.

In practical operation the wearer puts the ordinary trousers suspenders immediately over the undershirt. Our improved shirtwaist is then put on over the suspenders, and the waist-belt is fastened around the wearers waist just below the upper edge of the trousers, with the front plaits m arranged in the manner hereinbefore described. Thus it will be seen that the trousers are supported entirely from the shoulders, but with the suspenders concealed, and the waist-belt does not have to be drawn uncomfortably tight,

because the trousers are not dependent for their support on the same.

As the waist-belt b is permanently attached to the shirt-waist, we prefer to make it of a washable material.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As a new article of manufacture, a shirtwaist, A, whose body terminates at about the waist-line; a waist-belt, b, permanently attached to the shirt-waist body across the back and holding the material at the said back in well -defined vertically-extending plaits, e, but unattached across the front, leaving the ends disconnected or free, whereby, when the ends are drawn around a wearers body, the surplus material of the shirt-waist body will form front plaits, m, to correspond to the said back plaits, e, and also whereby, when the ends are unfastened, the entire front of the shirt-waist body may be smoothed out flat for ironing; loops, f, attachedto the shirt-waist body at the front and adapted to receive the unattached parts of the waist-belt; and a detachable two-looped or double buckle, g, entirely disconnected from the shirt-waist body and in which each end of the waist-belt may be adjusted independently of the other, so that the said double buckle may maintain a central position on the shirt-waist front.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.-

LOUIS STEPPACHER. EMANUEL STERN. Witnesses:

CHARLES L. VIETsoH, F. S. STITT. 

